Headphones for Down-Tempo/Sludge/Hypnotic/Progressive ~300

Dec 30, 2009 at 12:50 AM Post #31 of 51
Being on stage with the band is very overrated. Mosh pit is best (minus the sweat and claustrophobia and the pushing/shoving).

Agree on not modding. Closing an open can is about the worst mod you can do.
 
Dec 30, 2009 at 2:08 AM Post #32 of 51
MomijiTMO - Thank you for this. I had actually been having trouble figuring out what laid back meant. That is a helpful description for me to understand. Now if you sacrifice some of your distance from the music, does this elevate detail or elevate other perks when its not right up in your face? What are the gives and takes of listening distance?

So it seems like a decision between Grado and Senn is based on the distance a little more than how well it plays my genre of music? Because an added perk to Senns is that as I mentioned in my OP that I will be using this for gaming too even though my main priority is music of the post metal/sludge kind. Thank you guys so much for taking such an active role in helping me with all of my questions, the more we discuss in this thread the more I start to understand.
 
Dec 30, 2009 at 11:21 AM Post #33 of 51
Being that I value the atmospheric aspect of a lot of my music and listen a little more passively, usually to relax and be hypnotized, would a good soundstage help with that. Wouldn't I want to feel like I'm in a bigger place and maybe not having the music source right in my face but still relatively close? It just seems that death metal or something really intense would benefit from being right up in your face and make you want to headbang. Am I wrong? Senns and Ultrasones are very interesting to me since I know that I will try out Grados with some 225s in addition to the headphones I'm asking you guys to suggest now.
 
Dec 30, 2009 at 12:28 PM Post #34 of 51
Some things you need to know

1.) Headphone modification is overrated. Changing cables and everything from good modders may look tempting, but that is the last thing to do.

2.) You need to listen to the headphone to really evaluate the sound. If i compare two high end headphones, and say A is slightly better than B, then you will imaging one headphone playing the purest music you can imagine, and the other one somewhat distorted, while in reality, it is not true. When you will listen to both headphones, chances are that you wont be able to prefer one, but you will conclude them to be just different in their own way.

3.) When it comes to laid back music, this is what scares everyone away, lack of detail. Again, when someone compares "laid back vs in your face" by "on stage vs back row", your imagination messes you up. If in your face meant higher detail and laid back meant lower detail, all high end headphones would be in your face. Every now and then you hear people saying "laid back" and "very detailed" in the same line when describing a headphone, this would not be possible if laid back cans lacked detail. To be honest, i prefer laid back sound, so i might be talking from their side here.

4.) I dont have all the headphones in the world
biggrin.gif
.
 
Dec 30, 2009 at 10:22 PM Post #36 of 51
InFn-0 - Very insightful. I don't think I will be able to hear any of the headphones BEFORE I purchase but I definitely know that I can't really know what I like completely through semantics over the internet. I'll have to learn by going through the same process as the others here - switching out some and keeping others.

If i compare two high end headphones, and say A is slightly better than B, then you will imaging one headphone playing the purest music you can imagine, and the other one somewhat distorted, while in reality, it is not true I figured it was probably this way and I'm trying not to do that while still getting an idea of where a good starting place is for me that will give me a good experience. But I'm new with virgin ears so I don't think that many things I would buy as a first headphone would make me say "Wow this is garbage" and for the most part probably won't happen like that after I have some experience either.

MomijiTMO - Yeah I do play games and Sennheiser is very revered in the gaming community. I am actually leaning towards the Ultrasone HFI-780's right now though. They seem to be the closest to what I'm looking for. Also have a good soundstage for gaming and movies, but have a more present bass, just a teenie bit less mid, and fairly smooth highs. They are 250, leaving ample room for a good amp. But I do know that in the future Sennheiser and Grado are headphones I need to try, so I have a feeling that all of these suggestions are going to help at some point of time in the future.

What do you recommend as having good synergy with the Sennheiser 600?
What do you recommend as having good synergy with the Ultrasone HFI-780?

I will research these topics on my own as well but I would like to hear some opinions as well =]
 
Dec 31, 2009 at 12:21 PM Post #37 of 51
So all of today I spent a lot of time reading and researching further. I decided to write out all of the characteristics in a headphone that I find the most desirable. They were:

Detailed, Articulate, Warm, Good Mids, Not too bright, Balanced, Adequate and tight bass.

It wasn't so clear to me until I wrote it out but this very much sounds like I am describing the Senn 600's doesn't it? Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm assuming I won't get too many people disagreeing being as so many people recommended them for me.

Senn 600s sound friendly, capable, and can adapt with me for a while until I get more experience. Yay or nay? I know I have quite a few people who vote yay already. About 4 I think.
 
Dec 31, 2009 at 5:11 PM Post #38 of 51
Quote:

Originally Posted by OUTRO 13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Detailed, Articulate, Warm, Good Mids, Not too bright, Balanced, Adequate and tight bass.

It wasn't so clear to me until I wrote it out but this very much sounds like I am describing the Senn 600's doesn't it?



Yes. Yes it does.
wink.gif
 
Dec 31, 2009 at 6:55 PM Post #40 of 51
Well, if you want the soundstage, there are much better options than Ultrasones, IMO. I found D2000s to be much better for gaming, and even the DT990 were better for games, but I think DT990s have much for soundstage personally.

I haven't tried many Senns, and not the 600s. The Ultrasones are basically in your face kinda headphones. I don't enjoy that as much for the relaxing/hypnotizing listening you are looking for.

Oh and the Ultrasones don't do much with an amp. From what you described, the Senns would be your best bet, but an amp would be in line for sure. I guess I'm not very educated with the Grado sound.
 
Dec 31, 2009 at 11:00 PM Post #41 of 51
pfillion- I will definitely be getting grados down the line as my next pair. I'm sure they will both satisfy me in different ways. Thanks for the input though, it is nice to hear from people that listen to the same genre as me.

HeyItsBattleKid - Yeah I think I'm going to go with the senns and will probably try some grados and ultrasones later. An amp is something that I am looking into right now. I'm looking at the Darkvoice 3322 and similar models. I've heard good things about how they perform with senns and they are adequate with grados and ultrasones too if I do get some somewhere down the line.
 
Jan 1, 2010 at 3:20 PM Post #42 of 51
You guys have all been so patient and helpful with me and it is much appreciated.

So it is pretty much decided that I am going to pick up some Senn HD600's and leave the rest of my money to take care of an amp ~500.

As I said before, I am looking into Darkvoice amps, more specifically the 3322. Travagans Red is a decent option too but I am definitely willing to shell out more than the Travagans if I need to - Plus I want a tube amp. I want to take care of my amp and such early on so that I can enjoy the full potential of my future headphones.

Any suggestions?
 
Jan 4, 2010 at 12:20 AM Post #43 of 51
I finally did it, I pulled the trigger on some Grado SR80i's to ease into this whole thing. I need to experience this stuff myself and can only take the research so far especially since I can't find any place to audition headphones. This way I can test the sound without breaking the bank and the reviews I read on here will mean more once I know what everyone is talking about with the grado's and learning what characteristics I like and don't like first hand. I will surely take everyone's advice into account in the future. I will definitely be trying out the ultrasones and sennheisers next to see which sounds I really like. I really hope that the Grado's don't disappoint.

Since I only spend about 100 I am going to shell out for a good amp (even though the grados can work ok without them). Then later my source - but for now my source is a Technics SL-PD667 CD Player (5 Disk changer).

I think I am going to go for a Darkvoice amp being as they can definitely work well with Grado, Ultrasone, and Senns. And eventually I would like a NAD C542 CD Player. What do you all think?
 
Jan 4, 2010 at 3:11 AM Post #45 of 51
I definitely will report back on how I feel about them. I just went with sr80's because I noticed I was starting to get ahead of myself and if I had done more I wouldn't go through the whole journey and learning experience of seeing how different things affect the sound (upgrades,amps,sources, etc). I bought some bowls and flats from TTVJ to experiment with those being as the sr80i comes with comfies.

I don't have anywhere to test out headphones, the only place I have heard headphones is at best buy with the crappy bose headphones. As long as the grados sound much better than that I'm sure I'll love the grados.

Wish me luck!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top